One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Pyramids have fascinated and baffled visitors for centuries, the difficulty of their construction seemingly at odds with their great age. Now the former Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, shares his memories of working with these magnificent monuments when he was the Director General of the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara, Heliopolis, and the Bahariya Oasis for 15 eventful years between 1987 and 2002.

In 1576, the Elizabethan adventurer Martin Frobisher setout to discover the North-west passage to China, across the barren wastes of northern Canada. He failed to find the passage, and spent most of his time on a fool’s search for gold – but the remains of his settlement have recently been excavated by Robert McGhee, who has produced the reconstruction of the hut shown here.

The Niah Cave, in Sarawak (which is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable: sa-RA-wak), is one of the crucial sites for the antiquity of man in the Far east. It was excavated in the 1950s by the controversial figure of Tom Harrisson, who dug up the skull of a modern human being which he claimed to be 40,000 years old. Was his claim true? Professor Graeme Barker has been leading an expedition to find out, and here is the full story of what he has found: is Tom Harrisson justified?

When were the Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean, first settled? Peter Drewett has been excavating an important prehistoric settlement at Belmont, first established around AD 600. Later it was replaced by a ball and dance court, oriented perhaps on the dramatic Belmont Hill, shown here.

One of South-East Asia’s most celebrated archaeological sites and one of the great marvels of the world, Angkor Wat appeared in the very first issue of CWA, as well as in #5 and, most recently, #50. Stretching over 400km², the surrounding archaeological park includes the various capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th-15th century, as well as the famous temple of Angkor Thom. But when exploration began in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was quickly obvious that there was strong Indian influence. What can new research tell us about Angkor’s origins?